A Gunman's Tears
by ShadowsintheDark
Summary: Trigun AU, set to after the battle with Legato, emotions are high and the soup is plenty!. V/M and W/M. Somewhat of a songfic >.
1. Default Chapter

A Gunman's Tears  
  
**READ**  
  
Authors note: Hey all! This would be my first Trigun story. Its kinda a half Songfic and half short-story. It's much loner than a Songfic but it does have the lyrics. I suggest you download 'Standing at the edge of the Earth' by Blessid Union of Souls now so it's finished downloading by the time you get to the lyrics part. This is an AU Vash/Meryl story and there is some Wolfwood/Milly in it too. If you don't like a pairing then tough, and don't read it ^.^;; I'm saying wolfwood never died, and it's right after they beat Legato. So enjoy!  
  
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The town was quiet as they all stood at the cliff, suddenly coming alive from their hypnotized state from Legato. Meryl and Milly cringed in pain as they were being beaten until everything stopped and a gunshot rang through the air. Meryl quickly stood up, looking over to where Legato and Vash where, only to see the tall blonde man standing, the other lying on the ground.  
  
"Oh Vash." Meryl said sadly, seeing the gunman stand, clutching his gun as tears rolled down his cheeks.  
  
"I.I killed him.she's gone.I killed her too..no.." Vash mumbled through sobs, he had done it.he had killed Legato. Did he have a choice? If he didn't the townspeople would've have beaten Meryl and Milly to death.  
  
Milly stood up, watching the situation carefully, but just as she was going to see Vash her eyes spotted Meryl as she slowly approached him and decided to help the townspeople instead.  
  
"V-vash?" Meryl approached and stood beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder softly. Her gaze fell to Legato, a haunting smile on his lips still remained even after death, that bastard made Vash shoot.he knew what Vash thought of killing.  
  
"Stay back." He suddenly spoke up somewhat harshly, turning his back to Meryl and holding his gun closer to his chest.  
  
"Vash.It isn't your fault.you had no other choice" Her voice softened, feeling hurt that he was being so cold towards her. She knew it wasn't his fault, so why couldn't he see that?  
  
"I killed him. I KILLED HIM!" He yelled and fell to the ground on his knees, gripping the ground with his hands as he gritted his teeth in pain. Meryl saw the small tears fall to the dirt, leaving wet spots.  
  
"Im..sorry.." Meryl took a breath and knelt down in front of him, and when he looked up she smacked him across the cheek with tears forming in her own navy grey eyes  
  
"Snap out of it! He -meant- for this to happen, he wanted you to think you killed him to you would live with the pain. He killed himself..and used you to do it! What do I have to say to get that message across to you!?" She stared at him, awaiting a response of any kind. Meryl nearly died as his sad eyes watched her in disbelief, she had slapped him before, but why was he looking at her like this?  
  
"Meryl." he began to speak, then paused to think about what he was going to say.  
  
Meryl froze, this was it, she could hear it now [Just stay away from me! I've held my anger from the beginning but enough is enough...I never want to see you again...and I don't care about your mission. If you come near me again I will shoot you..]  
  
".Your right.I'm sure it was a trick..But still..I killed him. There is no- excuse for killing someone..I don't have the right.." Looking up his aqua eyes still brimmed with tears, it broke Meryl's heart to see him like this, she never liked to see him sad.  
  
"It's not your fault..it was mine. If I hadn't forced Milly to come and follow you, we wouldn't have been used as hostages. Things might have been different. So just blame it on me, and we should get going back to the village..We still have to tend to Wolfwood's injuries. And then after ill buy you some dounuts, how does that sound?' Meryl put on her best smile, trying to cheer Vash up, even a little. She stood up and offered a hand to him  
  
"You are not to blame..but thank you for that offer, and we should get going back" Vash placed on a small smile and took her hand as she helped him up off the ground.  
  
"Meryl! Mr. Vash!" They both turned their heads to see a happy Milly jumping up and down "The town offered us a huge supper for helping them and getting rid of Mr. Legato. And there's going to be Pudding!!" She squeaked and began to follow the rest of the people down to the town.  
  
"We better not keep her waiting.especially if there's pudding involved!" Meryl laughed and looked up at Vash before beginning to walk back to town, when all of a sudden a hand grabbed her wrist and a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist  
  
"Why take the long way?" Vash grinned and jumped from the cliff, jumping from rock to rock down to the bottom while Meryl screamed all the way down. Once they reached the bottom vash placed her down with a laugh  
  
"Oh come on..that wasn't that bad was it?" Poor Vash never noticed the glint of anger in the frightened woman's eyes before a huge mallet was whipped out and slugged him into the nearest building.  
  
"Never.Do.That.Again." Meryl hissed, breathing heavily before stomping back to the house that they left Wolfwood in.  
  
"Oooooowie.who knew she was afraid of heights?" Vash cringed as he flopped from his spot on the wall to the ground.  
  
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Wolfwood slowly awoke to the sound of his door opening, cracking an eye open he spotted Milly bringing him some soup.  
  
Hearing something move, Milly turned around to see Wolfwood watching her with a smile, she shot him back an equally, if not more warm smile.  
  
"Hello Mr. Wolfwood! I'm glad you're feeling better, I brought you some soup" She smiled and placed the steaming bowl onto the table beside the bed. "Do you need anything? Bandages changed?" She offered, looking over the wound on his shoulder.  
  
"Well.." He grinned but then paused, remembering something "Where's Vash?"  
  
"Oh, He's fine. Last time I saw him he was lying twitching on the ground near a building. He carried Meryl down the cliff, and she's deathly afraid of heights." Milly nodded merrily.  
  
Wolfwood couldn't help but laugh [Oh yeah Vash...your a real ladies man.] "Too bad..I would have liked to see that" he grinned at Milly, who was eyeing the soup hungrily.  
  
"You can have some if you want..im not hungry just yet" He offered and smiled when she squeaked and jumped up and began eating some of the soup. He could tell just by her reaction Meryl must have made it, he remembered eating her food when they where at the house with the kids.  
  
After finishing half of the soup Milly stopped and sat on the bed with Wolfwood with a smile, cheeks slightly flushed "Thank you so much Mr. Wolfwood.but I'll get some more when I go back downstairs."  
  
"You're welcome Milly." Wolfwood looked around the room, it wasn't much but he knew it would be their temporary home for them until something happened.  
  
The room became silent as the pair remained unmoving. [Look at her.She's amazing, a little over happy but that's what makes Milly, well.Milly. If I ever die.I hope I go to heaven, because ill know she will be there. Wait.Is that a noodle?] He raised a brow as a tiny noodle, most likely from the soup, remained unnoticed in her bottom lip.  
  
[Should I tell her?...or...remove it myself..] A light grin appeared on Wolfwood's lips as he struggled to sit up in the bed. This caught the attention of Milly as she turned to look at him with a worried look.  
  
"You shouldn't be moving just yet Mr. Wolfwood..Your injuries.." She placed her hand on his shoulder to steady him [What is he doing? He's going to re- open his wounds..]  
  
"I'm all right.but." Leaning forward her pressed his lips to hers, placing his hand behind her head and let her long silky hair run through his fingers before pulling back.  
  
".Mr.Wolfwood." Milly said in a daze, head tilted slightly to the side.  
  
Wolfwood felt his cheeks redden as he stammered "Uhh.you had a noodle on your lip."  
  
A blush appeared on Milly's cheek as she smiled, laughing slightly "Why thank you very much then for removing the noodle. I don't know what I would have done without you Mr.Wolfwood!"  
  
"Well its not easy being a hero.." He laughed nervously when something caught his attention, Milly was walking over to his bag on the table across the room.  
  
"Milly..What are you doing?" He asked suspiciously, watching her return with the 'Portable' Confession box and sitting back down on the bed. Digging through her pockets she deposited a coin in the roof and placed it on her head.  
  
"Are you open today Mr. Wolfwood?" A wide smile played on her lips as she looked in his direction, since she was unable to see with the box covering her eyes.  
  
"Uh, why yes I am.."  
  
"Then I have a confession to make!" Milly said cheerfully, and then became slightly serious "Well.There's this guy..And he's really nice! He buys me pudding and it makes me happy. We even once had a fake kid, I thought that was fun, and I was glad to be able to help Moore but the guy I like looked embarrassed. Then we've been spending all this time together and I really like him now..I don't know what to do..Can you help me Mr.Wolfwood?" Milly spoke, laughing nervously under the box. [Hmm..I wonder if he knows I was talking about him..I hope he doesn't think that "the Guy" is someone else!]  
  
Wolfwood blinked while his jaw hung freely in the air, He had never really liked that box much until now. "Milly.I never knew you felt the same as I did.." He smiled and hugged her tightly, bringing her body close to his own.  
  
Milly gasped and took off the confession box "How did you know it was you? I never said your name!?"  
  
Wolfwood sweat dropped and laughed "Lets just say it was a lucky guess" He grinned and kissed her once more, this time a little more passionately.  
  
After they parted she smiled lovingly at him, resting her head on his unwounded shoulder "I have an important question to ask you.."  
  
"Anything Milly.."  
  
"Are you a Psychic?"  
  
Wolfwood smacked his forehead and fell back onto the bed, accidentally taking milly with him as they were soon tangled in the sheets  
  
"Was it something I said?" Milly smiled and traced a finger down his jaw line before being pulled down for another kiss  
  
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"Where is Milly? I thought she was bringing Wolfwood some soup.." Meryl finished cooking the rest of dinner before heading upstairs to see what was taking Milly so long to return.  
  
Walking down the hall she passed hers and Milly's bedroom and headed to the spare bed room where Wolfwood was supposedly sleeping. Cracking open the door she covered her mouth from laughing when she spotted her friends tangled in the sheets like two butterflies in a spiders web kissing. With a happy smile for her friend she quietly shut the door when the hairs on the back of her neck raised as hot air played on her neck. Snapping her head around she spotted vash with a mock glare plastered on his face  
  
"What are you doing?" he asked when Meryl covered his mouth with her hand and dragged him downstairs quickly  
  
"Shh! Milly and Wolfwood finally got together! Don't ruin the moment"' and with that she turned her attention back to the soup. Taking it off the stove and pouring it into 2 bowls, leaving the 3rd one empty, since Milly was..Well..Occupied.  
  
"Really? About time.." Vash laughed and sat down at the table, watching Meryl look down at the soup in pure boredom while keeping an almost mechanical stirring pace.  
  
[She looks so lonely.you can see it in her eyes. Is it because Milly has Wolfwood now? Hmmm.] Vash wondered, unaware that his staring was noticed.  
  
"What are you looking at? Is there something wrong?" Meryl asked, brow raised as vash jumped in his seat and stammered out apologies.  
  
"Uhhh its nothing. When is the soup going to be ready soon? I sure am hungry" he placed on a happy-go-lucky smile and walked over to Meryl, looking over her shoulder with a wide grin on his lips.  
  
Meryl felt a blush trail across her cheeks, with a panicked thought she lowered her head so the gunman would not be able to see what was displayed on her cheeks. "It's ready! How about you go get the table set or something..?" she replied hastily, wanting nothing more that for him to leave for a few moments to allow the blushing to fade away.  
  
Vash's brow raised with suspicion, she was hiding something.but what? He turned his head to the side and tried to see her face, but Meryl kept moving it the opposite direction so Vash could not see. He frowned and hopped to the other side of her to hopefully catch a quick glimpse at her face, but she quickly turned to the other side.  
  
"Meryl!" He breathed out and grabbed her face with his hands, turning it gently to face him. His eyes widened slightly to see a now deep blush tinted along her cheeks, making the short woman look adorable in his eyes.  
  
"Awww.how cute!" He smiled broadly and chuckled, unaware of Meryl's twitching eyebrow as she turned away from him and stormed outside without a word.  
  
"M-meryl?" Vash gulped, boy was he in for it now.  
  
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Meryl's feet pounded at the dusty earth as she stomped out onto the deck. Taking a moment to cool down; she let out a long held sigh, the smell of gunpowder and oil still lingered on her cheeks where momentarily Vash's hands were.  
  
"I'm such a fool." she said as she fell back onto the hanging bench, listening to the soft creaks as it rocked back and forth from her weight and the slight breeze. Closing her eyes she sat in silence as the warm summer's wind played through her dark navy locks, a sensation of calm washed over her being.  
  
"Love is for the people with pure hearts.someone like Milly. She's so kind and always happy..She deserves love.." Meryl paused, opening her eyes and gazing out to the desert wasteland in front of the house as the sand swirled in the air creating almost magical patterns. A light smile played on her lips as the beautiful shades of the second sun appeared on the horizon as it began to set, changing the sand into sparkling specks of gold.  
  
With a small sad chuckle she whispered out "..And it's just not for me." Meryl began to blink more quickly, trying to hold back the oncoming tears "Come on Meryl.your not allowed to cry.." she growled at herself for such a weakness.  
  
Unfortunately for Meryl, she never quite noticed the clunking of large boots coming out onto the porch until it was too late.  
  
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Authors note: Whoa.I didn't think it would be this long.well I'm going to separate this into two chapters, or maybe even 3. I don't know if I should continue.this is my first Trigun fic so it must suck. If I get a few good reviews ill continue and Constructed criticism is welcome too! Well tata for now! 


	2. Chapter 2

A Gunman's Tears  
  
Author's note: Hey all, sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter out, things have been hectic and whoo, just no time to write this! Well this story can go two ways now. I didn't quite realize that I had a lot more idea's that could go into a Novel type fic with a lot of chapters or I can keep it a songfic and end it next chapter. It's really up to you guys ^^ Well enjoy!  
  
Meryl wiped away a few hot tears that slipped down her rosy cheeks with her gloved hand "Look, your crying. What a weakness..." With a slight crackled voice she spoke, unaware of the gunman standing silently at the doorway of the house.  
  
Feeling a pair of eyes staring at her she paused and turned around, there was Vash, gazing sadly at her. She was about to scream on why he had been staring at her when her voice had caught in her throat; He was crying.  
  
"Vash..Why..." she was cut off as he walked over and sat on the bench beside her and wrapped his arms around her silently. Meryl stiffened and remained silent and still while he rocked the bench with his heels, closing his eyes and resting his chin on her head.  
  
"Meryl don't cry.I'm sorry for anything I did.I am" his voice was weak, like it took a lot for the blonde gunman to just to speak.  
  
"But Vash, its not your..."  
  
"Meryl listen to me," his voice interrupted hers once more, "Love is for everyone who wishes for it. It doesn't take a pure heart to be able to love and to be loved; it only takes the will you have to accept it. And there is love for you, you just haven't been looking hard enough..." Pulling her back slightly he gripped her shoulders with his hands, staring at her with thoughts intense blue eyes of his.  
  
Being shocked into silence she could only stare, the feeling of sadness was long gone since Vash had arrived. Why had he come to comfort her? Was he even doing that, or did he do something wrong and wanted to look good for a moment to have a lighter sentence? Who knew with the mysterious Humanoid Typhoon.  
  
"Uhh.Meryl? You home in there?" She snapped out of her daze as he waved a hand in front of her face.  
  
"Oh, sorry about that. Yeah I'm ok now...uhh...thanks Vash." A light smile crossed her lips as she looked down to the ground.  
  
"No Problem. Uhh Hey, would you mind making more soup?" Vash moved down on the bench slightly, placing a hand behind his head and laughing rather nervously.  
  
"More soup? But I made a whole pot and it was nearly full." Looking back up at him she wore a more dangerous 'What did you do and am I going to kill you slowly or quickly' kind of look. This made Vash even more nervous.  
  
"I.I was hungry.and kind of ate it...all." With a yelp he stood up and jumped off the deck and began running, and no sooner as he did Meryl had jumped up and was right on his heals screaming.  
  
"VASH!! ARG! HOW COULD YOU EAT THAT WHOLE POT YOU PIG!" She screeched as she chased him around the small house over and over, him yelping for someone to save him as Milly poked her head out of wolfwood's window and looked down at the two as they made another lap around the house.  
  
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"Oh my Mr. Priest! Look at how cute Mr. Vash and Meryl are chasing each other around the house" Milly smiled and looked back at him as he lay in the rustled up bed.  
  
"It sounds worse then a pair of badgers fighting each other to the death Milly...how can you say that's cute??" Wolfwood raised a brow at her in confusion.  
  
"Because it's romantic Mr. Wolfwood!" She laughed and smiled, giving him an innocent expression. This only made wolfwood feel more and more scared of the large woman, wondering why he had infact fallen for her in the first place. He then shrugged and grinned  
  
"Hey Milly, lets go downstairs for some grub...i think I can walk and it would be nice to get out of this bed" He grunted and tried to sit up when Milly walked over and simply scooped him right out of the bed and into her arms.  
  
"AHH! Girl what are you doing?" He yelled, squirming around in a panic.  
  
"You're in no condition to walk Mr. Wolfwood, so ill carry you!" She smiled brightly and walked out the door and down that stairs while wolfwood pouted in her arms.  
  
"Why do I feel so much like a bride?" He muttered while Milly just laughed.  
  
"Being carried by a girl is nothing to be ashamed about Mr. Wolfwood, as my Big Big sister used to tell me I was always very strong for my age" Reaching the bottom of the stairs she walked into the kitchen and set him down on the chair at the table.  
  
"Mmm...Yes you are Milly. And please, for the last time, call me wolfwood." He sighed and gazed out the window when a blur of red and white zoomed past "How many laps is that?"  
  
"About twenty now I think..." Milly smiled and poured two glasses of water for them and sat down at the table beside him, handing him the glass when a loud yelp was heard and the door cracked open; Vash tearing inside and heading for the stairs when he tripped on a black cat and collided face first with the staircase.  
  
"I got you now!!" Meryl cackled and ran into the door and pounced on the blonde gunman, grinning wildly and pulled out an unloaded derringer from her cloak and put it against the back of his skull.  
  
"Now who's going to never eat my soup again?" She said smoothly, a hint of demonacy in her tone of voice.  
  
"I won't Meryl! I swear!! Please put down the gun..." Vash whimpered and quickly spun around under her so she now sat on his lower torso, giving her the biggest puppy eyes she had ever seen.  
  
"Mmm...Grr. Fine. Next time it -will- be loaded..." She pulled the gun away from his forehead and went to stand when she paused and her eyes widened. Looking back down to Vash he had a hand on her side and leg, holding on as if he didn't want her to move. He held an almost longing look in his eyes when he quickly let go and looked away.  
  
[Vash.what was that about?] Meryl thought before quickly getting up and walking over to the kitchen, gazing over to the table where Wolfwood and Milly sat laughing. She shook her head and began to get out all the ingredients to make another pot of soup.  
  
Vash arose and wandered over to Meryl's side and looked at what she was doing, he had felt bad for eating the soup that she had made; but aftermath was worth it. Even if he did have rug burn from sliding to the staircase and his face hurt from colliding with the wood, Meryl had sat on him, and that kind of closeness from the seemingly cold woman was well worth it.  
  
"Is there anything I can do?" He offered, watching her cut up the vegetables and place them in the boiling pot.  
  
"Hmm..." She looked up at him and wondered if she should really trust him with the food, but he looked as if he really wanted to make it up to her so she caved. "Sure Vash.well you can wash the remaining vegetables and then cut them up like so" She cut the carrot in half then began to finely cop in up and threw the top of the carrot into the garbage before placing all the cut carrot in the pot.  
  
"Hey! Sounds easy enough..." Going onto his duties he was very careful to follow everything Meryl had told him to do, and soon the pair finished in no time and all they had to do was wait till it was done.  
  
"Thank you Vash...now all we have to do is stir it every 5 minutes and in about 20 it should be done" Meryl smiled lightly and walked to the table and sat beside Milly and Vash took his place in between her and wolfwood.  
  
"Its good to see you out of bed Wolfwood" Vash smiled and patted wolfwood on the back, causing the priest to wince in pain and glare at him "Eh heh heh...sorry"  
  
It was at that moment a dark feeling took over vash, his once peaceful smile turned into the most painful look of fear anyone had ever seen.  
  
Meryl was the first to notice, having felt somewhat uneasy herself "Vash.what is it..?"  
  
Vash turned his head slightly towards the window behind Meryl and his heart stopped; but it was too late.  
  
Authors Note: heh.cliff-hanger! Sorry the chapter is short; I just need to know of which two options I'm going to take for the rest of the story. Well im off, Review Review review! ^^ 


	3. Chapter 3

A Gunman's Tears  
  
Authors note: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the reviews! ^__^ lol. I'm quite glad everyone's been enjoying the fic; it's really a lot of fun to write! Well I have decided along with your help to keep it going as long as I still have the ideas. But I have a few comments to give out before we begin.  
  
'Dude on the Computer'- heh, I laughed quite hard at your comment, I actually never thought of it being knives. That would be something cool but then I couldn't think of a lot of things to do afterwards!  
  
'A.T.O'- Heh, don't worry. I'm not a big fan of male pairings too much, I can read them but I can't write them! And you also don't have to worry about a cheap lemon; if you know a writer by the name of 'Faith In a bad guy' she is one of my good friends and would kill me since she is a pretty awesome Lemon writer.  
  
'Kimmy'- Great and mighty author? Lol. I'm sorry but I find that pretty funny ^__^  
  
To everyone else - Thanks so much for reviewing, and now onto the story!  
  
Oh yes, and because I feel somewhat creative tonight, I think I will try some P.O.V's for this chapter! =P and at one point in this chapter, I used a song to place the overall mood. If you want to download it, it's "Listen to the Rain" By Evanescence. I used it for Vash's p.o.v #2. The song nor lyrics belong to me, I'm just using them because I love her work and it fit well with that scene.  
  
Now for the story!  
  
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Vash's p.o.v  
  
All I could hear was the pounding of my heart, it seemed like forever- but it all happened in a few seconds. I remember the time with Goseph and the women, time stood still but I still managed to save them, but now I feel frozen in fear; and cannot do a thing.  
  
Smash.  
  
The window broke from the bullets being shot, it sounded like there was three. And then my heart just seemed to stop, she screamed. I couldn't look; I closed my eyes as I could feel the hot tears stream down my face. It was such an eerie silence after the glass hit the floor. Could I look? Was she.no. She can't be. Not Meryl Strife.  
  
I opened my eyes to only be amazed, Wolfwood was looking at me oddly, and it seemed he had done the same thing. Ever so slowly we both gazed to the ground, Meryl was lying beside the chair, which had looked like it had been pushed out of the way since she was sprawled out on the floor; a horrified look on her trembling features.  
  
Meryl was alive!! I couldn't believe how relieved I was. But.who pushed the chair out of the way...and why did I smell blood. Gazing to the window my heart sank. I already heard the screeching of wood on the floor and a deep cry.  
  
The only thing that was just as worse as Meryl being shot - Milly had taken the bullets herself.  
  
Meryl's p.o.v  
  
I couldn't believe how quickly the last minute had gone by. One second vash was giving a horrified look out the window, then there were gunshots, soon followed by the screeching of wood on wood and then the chair was knocked over. What had happened?  
  
Opening my eyes I gazed up, Vash had just opened his eyes from the whole ordeal and was looking around, tears still glimmering on his cheeks. Vash cried a lot. Probably more then Milly and I have cried in our whole lives.  
  
What had happened to the shots? Who pushed her out of the way? I turned my head slightly and my breath caught short, blood, and lots of it staining the floor. Lifting myself from the chair I head Wolfwood's deep cry as the chair was knocked over as he headed to the window. I froze at what I saw.  
  
There was Milly, laying face down on the floor as glass was all around her, a disturbingly large puddle of her own blood surrounding her body. And the worse of all, she was smiling.  
  
"Milly!" I sobbed and quickly crawled over to her, picking her off the floor and cradling her shoulders and head in my arms. Wolfwood's large body shaking lightly as he gazed down at her, horrified.  
  
"M.Meryl..." Milly had managed to squeak out, I couldn't help it as the tears streamed down my face.  
  
"Milly.why did you do that you idiot" I said softly, my voice was already cracking up, I sounded so desperate, and in fact I was.  
  
"Don't.be silly Meryl.Its o-only a scratch.or...Three..." I couldn't help but laugh slightly, you would think after being shot three times it would have knocked a little sense into her. "B...But.I...knew it all along."  
  
I watched her cough deeply; it has a wheeze to it. I gazed over her body and saw one of the bullets had hit her in the chest, I prayed that the wheeze wasn't from the bullet hitting her lungs. One had hit her in the shoulder and the other one grazed her side.  
  
"Knew what all along Milly.." I gazed down at her with a small smile, pulling a bloody arm up and wiping the tears from my cheeks.  
  
Before Milly could respond Vash arose from the table and pulled out his glasses. Whenever he put on those glasses, a new side of him seemed to come with it. He was serious, dark, and he looked like he was going to kill. Wolfwood also responded, walking slowly into the living room and picking up his punisher. Both men walked out the door silently; somehow I knew that they wouldn't come back till one of them killed the attacker.  
  
I watched them disappear into the darkness; the last I saw was a flicker of Vash's blood red coat as they disappeared down the street.  
  
"T.That you.Love Mr. Vash." Milly smiled up at me with one of her famous 'everything's going to be alright' smiles and I couldn't help but smile myself as I picked her up by her shoulders and slung one arm around my neck.  
  
"Come on.Milly.we have to get you to the hospital." I began to drag her out the door, what a funny sight that would be to see me dragging Milly around.  
  
It wasn't too long before we had arrived at the hospital; I guess when your worried time seems to fly a lot faster. It was there a few nurses helped her off into one of the rooms, but before she was into the room she looked back and called weakly "Your stalling Meryl." before being taken into the room.  
  
It was after she had left that the tears really started to flow, I quickly turned around and ran full speed back to the house. The wind danced through my short back hair as I ran, I had always liked to run, it felt so good. Pushing the door open and shutting it I stumbled over to the couch and simply fell onto it, sobbing my heart out into a pillow.  
  
Wolfwood's p.o.v  
  
As Vash and I ran through the empty streets of the town, I couldn't help but hold back the tears as I thought of Milly. She couldn't die..not now.not after we had finally gotten together. Why didn't I see it coming? I could have taken the bullets myself. But wait, Vash had seen the bullets - he had the look on his face. He could have stopped them.He was the Humanoid Typhoon after all; the $$60 billion double dollar man.  
  
Maybe it was because he didn't want to. That he was using us all for some protection from his attackers. That must be it!  
  
I turned into my run and swiftly kicked him to the ground. He instantly fell and looked back, a shocked but serious look on his face.  
  
"What was that for?" he asked stupidly, oh you can't play me the fool anymore Vash the Stampede.  
  
"You know bloody hell what that was for.you've been using us! All of this time as shields from your little bounty hunters. And now you've gotten Milly shot. You really are a heartless killer!!" I yelled, my anger rising by every passing second as I changed at him, my foot connecting with his side and sending him skidding across the dirt.  
  
As I advanced once more I could feel my heart pounding against my ribs, the adrenalin from the anger I held was so horrible, yet at the same time addicting.  
  
He lied there back on the ground, his eyes closed in a pained expression, and I know it couldn't have been from my kick, I didn't do it barely as hard as I could have.  
  
"You.Really think I just let her get shot. For my own personal gain." He mumbled, turning his head to look at me with those sad aqua eyes.  
  
"Well its sure looking that was right now." I growled, slamming the punisher into the ground and holding my finger against the main buckle.  
  
"Wolfwood.I would never have wanted Meryl.or Milly to have gotten shot. I couldn't do anything. I was frozen. If I could I would have taken the bullets myself to ensure their safety." He spoke softly, turning his head back up to the sky.  
  
I couldn't help but grit my teeth, I knew it was wrong to accuse him, I know how he feels about Meryl. But who was I to blame? I turned my head down, staring at the dirt in thought.  
  
Was Milly going to make it? What if she didn't.no, I'm not going to think of that possibility. If she makes it, then ill get a job. I will become a better man for her. Heck, ill even marry her; maybe even have kids. Even though the last time we 'pretended' to have a kid I wasn't too fond of the idea, I would be all up for it with Milly. And I'd even let her name the kid 'Bob' if that's what she wanted. Well.maybe.  
  
"Vash.I'm sorry. I shouldn't have accused you Needle-noggin." I sighed and walked over and helped him off the ground. He smiled lightly at me and took out his custom silver pistol. It was a legend all of its own.  
  
"Wolfwood.I'm going to make the bastard that shot Milly pay. I can't guarantee that I can kill him, but I'll make sure he does feel very sorry for what he's done." He picked up his glasses which had fallen off when I kicked him and slipped it on, the serious and deadly Vash the Stampede had awoken once more.  
  
I shook my head lightly and placed a hand on his shoulders, this was not his fight, it was mine. "No Vash.this is my battle. I'm going to go after him, alone." Vash made a move to protest when I turned my back, retrieving my Punisher from the ground and walked off "And anyways, I'm pretty sure Meryl will need someone to counsel her.she's not as strong as she leads us on to be."  
  
I could tell Vash was confused, but I smiled lightly as I heard the quick footsteps of him running back to the house we were staying at. "Good luck Vash.don't screw it up." I spoke quietly to myself, and continued on.  
  
Vash's p.o.v  
  
My heart was racing, I know I should have gone with Wolfwood, but my heart longed to see Meryl. I hope she is alright; I couldn't stand if anything had happened to her. Wolfwood's words hit, 'She isn't as strong as she leads us on to be..' it was unreal and so true at the same time. A few times I had heard her cry, even if it was in her sleep, I could tell there was more to her than met the eye.  
  
I stopped, lightly placing a hand on my cheek to feel a soft cold droplet of water. Gazing up it was simply breathtaking. It was raining. Rain is something so rare to this planet, that it could be called 'Once in a lifetime' event. But this didn't stop me, I needed to see Meryl.  
  
I kept on running as the house soon came into view, I was very glad to see that all was alright but the odd thing was that all the lights were turned off. Running up to the porch I gazed into the open door, all was eerily quiet and dark in the house with the exception of the gentle sound of the rain outside.  
  
"Meryl?" I called out, but to no reply.  
  
Where was she? I began to worry, what if something had happened to her? I was ready to rip my hair out in frustration till I heard the soft voice of none other than Meryl outside. Turning around I headed outside quietly, and out into the storm once more. Walking out towards the desert where I saw Meryl lying down on one of the sand dunes, eyes closed as she let the rain wash over her.  
  
It wasn't until I got closer did I hear that she was singing softly. Her voice was amazing, yet so sad as she sang the somewhat haunting lyrics to the song.  
  
"You can feel you're alone,  
  
But I'm here still with you.  
  
You can do what you dream,  
  
Just remember to listen to the.rain."  
  
It was then I decided to approach her, walking up the dune and sitting down beside her. "Meryl.are you ok?"  
  
She gazed up at me, water droplets fell down her face and it looked like she had been crying, it was hard to tell if it was her crying or rain.  
  
"Vash.what are you doing here?" The look of astonishment on her face told me she was expecting to be sitting out her alone for hours, well, she was quite wrong.  
  
I placed a hand on hers and immediately pulled back, her hand simply frozen from the rain. "Meryl.you're so cold. Let me take you inside..." I went to place my arms under her to pick her up when she pulled away.  
  
"Please.No.I want to stay out here" She spoke softly; I could see in her eyes she was tired, it had been quite a night for her, for all of us.  
  
"Meryl.please.or I will force you to go inside" I knew I couldn't force her, but I was hoping she would not call my bluff and just co-operate. I couldn't just leave her out here in the rain.  
  
She looked like she thought for a moment, a soft sigh escaping her lips as she went slightly limp and nodded. "Alright.I'll go."  
  
Smiling lightly I stood up and took her small frame into my arms, walking back to the house slowly. It was then I remembered a question I had forgotten to ask.  
  
"Meryl, what was that song you were singing anyways..." I asked, gazing down at her.  
  
A soft smile traced her lips as she closed her eyes, slightly cuddling up against me her resting her head on my chest "It was a song my Grandma used to sing to me. She always told me stories of the rain when I was little"  
  
I smiled as my thoughts returned to Rem. She was like a mother to me, and she always was singing her song wherever she was. But I had gotten over her, I know I could never have her back, but she was always going to be with my wherever I go.  
  
Reaching the house I walked in, gazing over my shoulder to where Wolfwood was heading "Good luck my friend." I said quietly, walking back inside. 


End file.
